America's First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Asheville Experiment
The pivotal role played by pioneering forestry educator Carl Schenck and his founding of America's first school of forestry - the Biltmore Forest School - is examined. The documentary recounts how Schenck, a German forester, came to America in 1895 to manage the forests at George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate in western North Carolina. With more than 100,000 acres of woodland to oversee and replant, Schenck began hiring young men to help with the work. After three years of answering their questions while on the job, the forester decided to teach them in a more formal setting and established the first forestry school in the United States.G